Special Announcement: NFBC/NFFC Acquired By Greg Ambrosius

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 11:52 am

I wouldn't describe it as a "Year from Hell." The fact all three of our events had record numbers was huge for us and should help us going forward immensely. So last year was positive in a lot of ways.

That being said, there's no question there were some setbacks and some issues that occurred we wish had never arisen. Nothing can be done to change any of that. What we can do is learn from them and ensure those things (the ones within our control anyway) never occur again and Greg and I strongly believe that will be the case. At the risk of speaking for Greg, I think we both feel that in many ways we are returning to our roots with our events with STATS running the games and having one clear voice speaking for our events. At the same time, we're also moving forward in dynamic and exciting ways that haven't been possible before because of how powerful STATS is and how excited they are to be working with us and everything Greg and I have to offer.

So it's all very exciting and it's great to see the positive reactions from everyone here and on the NFBC boards as well as all those who have contacted us personally. Hopefully we will have an NFL season that will allow everyone to continue enjoying the NFFC or take part in our event for the first time and see all of the exciting games that are available for them to play.

pizzatyme · Post by **pizzatyme** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 12:45 pm

Tom, I appreciate your perspective. I hope you appreciate mine as well. I participated in 2 drafts last year with the NFFC. One of them we had to use a message board in conjunction with a 3rd party site to complete the draft. To me, that is not what your event is all about and it was not fun. I would call it a year from hell in relation to my experiences in years prior.

With that said, I look forward to 2011 and onward.

Congrats again on these recent developments!

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:54 pm

I understand that Russ and I'm sorry if your experience wasn't up to past year's standards. As I said, there were some setbacks last year and some things occurred we wish had not. Unfortunately, we can't change the past. All we can do is move forward and I believe that our new situation will enable us to move forward in ways that will make our events and games better and ensure our customers have the best experience possible.

pizzatyme · Post by **pizzatyme** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 3:06 am

Agreed and very hopeful!

Sandman62 · Post by **Sandman62** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 3:40 am

Congrats to both of you, Greg and Tom. Now if you can just get STATS to influence the NFL so that we HAVE a season this year, that'd be great!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 5:05 am

Originally posted by Just Russ:
Congratulations Greg! You and Tom deserve a break after the year from hell.

I'm cautiously optomistic for a great future for the NFFC. I can't wait to read all of the details of what's to come.

All the best! Congrats to Tom too. Thanks Russ. For the sake of argument, let's say 2010 NFFC was "hellish" for all involved. I know what Tom is saying about the contest having some success, but I agree with you that it was hellish for our customers.

We didn't pay off 2009 regular season champions after Week 13 like we had the 5 previous seasons. Those went out in late January with the rest of the payments. That turned some folks off.

Then we got the NFFC site up late and Tom and I were so engaged in baseball that we really couldn't get NFFC plans and promotions going until late April.

Then of course these FFOC being owned by Fanball rumors just hounded us. The NFFC was being associated with the FFOC even though we had NOTHING to do with them. Any association with Fanball hurt the NFFC because of the FFOC shutting down in May. It didn't matter what Tom or I said or what the facts were, this hurt us.

And then of course we got off to a rough start with our online drafts and the draft software. Eventually the back-end turned out to work fine and as Tom says we had a good season, but here we are again waiting for payments to go out to our NFFC winners and it could be late February by the time everyone gets paid. That's hellish if you ask me.

I can guarantee that NFFC owners in the future will never wait this long again for their winnings. In fact, we'll go back to the way we paid everyone in the past as we always were the fastest in the industry to pay and we'll try to attain that again.

There are MANY ways we can prove our worth going forward. Bringing this community back together is one thing, once everyone is paid. Monitoring these message boards is another one and we will make sure more than one person moves the discussions forward from now on. We are going to be very active on these boards and regulate them if we have to. We're open for fun debates and calling it like it is, but the personal crap is done here.

We'll also create low-priced satellite leagues this off-season to bring folks together for drafting and Slow Drafts to keep the off-season hopping. Once the labor agreement is in place -- and we all have to keep a positive attitude there -- then we'll make all of this happen. Until then, our hands are tied.

But Russ is right, it's time to return the NFFC to old times and to even improve those old times with better online options and better live draft selections. We certainly overdid it and learned accordingly last year. It's time to bring a lot of people together in 3-4 locations and make this work. We'll get it right this time and make hell freeze over if we have to.

Sound good?

BillyWaz · Post by **BillyWaz** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 5:30 am

Making sure the winners from 2010 get their checks would be a good way to kick off the 2011 season.

It just seems like Fanball has a "we will get to it whenever attitude", and that is why they never had a very good reputation when it came to customer service.

Adding the two of you to Fanball was like oil and water from the start (as I told you privately numerous times), as your names have been synonomous with GREAT customer service for years, and they simply seem to be more concerned about making money.

I for one am happy to put Fanball in the rear view mirror and start fresh with you and Tom calling the shots partnered with STATS.

I just don't want to lose any customers due to Fanball dragging their feet on the checks. It is looking like it won't be until MARCH till people see any winnings from leagues that were decided in the last week of November or in the 3rd week of December .

TamuScarecrow · Post by **TamuScarecrow** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 6:14 am

Ditto, BWAZZ. I never felt "comfortable" with FANBALL and will be glad when the money issue is resolved to get them out the door. I am also looking forward to NFL/NFLPA agreement and then back to the great times of years 1 thru 5. Can't wait, Greg/Tom !!!!

pizzatyme · Post by **pizzatyme** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 10:01 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:
quote:Originally posted by Just Russ:
Congratulations Greg! You and Tom deserve a break after the year from hell.

I'm cautiously optomistic for a great future for the NFFC. I can't wait to read all of the details of what's to come.

All the best! Congrats to Tom too. Thanks Russ. For the sake of argument, let's say 2010 NFFC was "hellish" for all involved. I know what Tom is saying about the contest having some success, but I agree with you that it was hellish for our customers.

We didn't pay off 2009 regular season champions after Week 13 like we had the 5 previous seasons. Those went out in late January with the rest of the payments. That turned some folks off.

Then we got the NFFC site up late and Tom and I were so engaged in baseball that we really couldn't get NFFC plans and promotions going until late April.

Then of course these FFOC being owned by Fanball rumors just hounded us. The NFFC was being associated with the FFOC even though we had NOTHING to do with them. Any association with Fanball hurt the NFFC because of the FFOC shutting down in May. It didn't matter what Tom or I said or what the facts were, this hurt us.

And then of course we got off to a rough start with our online drafts and the draft software. Eventually the back-end turned out to work fine and as Tom says we had a good season, but here we are again waiting for payments to go out to our NFFC winners and it could be late February by the time everyone gets paid. That's hellish if you ask me.

I can guarantee that NFFC owners in the future will never wait this long again for their winnings. In fact, we'll go back to the way we paid everyone in the past as we always were the fastest in the industry to pay and we'll try to attain that again.

There are MANY ways we can prove our worth going forward. Bringing this community back together is one thing, once everyone is paid. Monitoring these message boards is another one and we will make sure more than one person moves the discussions forward from now on. We are going to be very active on these boards and regulate them if we have to. We're open for fun debates and calling it like it is, but the personal crap is done here.

We'll also create low-priced satellite leagues this off-season to bring folks together for drafting and Slow Drafts to keep the off-season hopping. Once the labor agreement is in place -- and we all have to keep a positive attitude there -- then we'll make all of this happen. Until then, our hands are tied.

But Russ is right, it's time to return the NFFC to old times and to even improve those old times with better online options and better live draft selections. We certainly overdid it and learned accordingly last year. It's time to bring a lot of people together in 3-4 locations and make this work. We'll get it right this time and make hell freeze over if we have to.

Sound good? [/QUOTE]Boom! Sounds perfect Greg. I'm looking forward to it. I'll do my part on the MB.

Some $75 satellites would be great! 75% payback with winner take all. Wets the appetite, introduces it to new faces, and is the gateway league to bigger and better leagues!

I'd call them the NFFC Nitrous Oxide leagues.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 11:10 am

Originally posted by Just Russ:
quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:
[qb] [QUOTE]Originally posted by Just Russ:
[qb] Boom! Sounds perfect Greg. I'm looking forward to it. I'll do my part on the MB.

Some $75 satellites would be great! 75% payback with winner take all. Wets the appetite, introduces it to new faces, and is the gateway league to bigger and better leagues!

I'd call them the NFFC Nitrous Oxide leagues.

[/QUOTE]I like it except for the 75% payback, Russ. It's gotta be 80%!!

These will "whet" your appetite for sure!! It will be our bowling night for fantasy leaguers, so you guys pick the perfect night and we'll fill 'em up. Sunday's anyone?

Thanks again. All much appreciated.